Mark Wahlberg Planning The Fighter Sequel?

In somewhat of a surprising announcement, The Fighter star Mark Wahlberg announced to Extra on the Academy Awards red carpet that there have been discussions about making a sequel to the Oscar-nominated film.

“Now we’re gonna talk about doing number two,” Wahlberg said. “We’re gonna do the Ward/Gatti trilogy and make it real.”

In real life, Mickey Ward fought Arturo Gatti in three major fights beginning in 2002, emerging as the champion. If the sequel moves forward, it would theoretically be a direct followup to the events of the 2010 film.

It is unknown at this stage who else might return from the original film or, indeed, if it will see the light of day at all. Wahlberg’s upcoming projects include Ted with Seth MacFarlane and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune with Fighter director David O. Russell.

The Fighter swept the Supporting Actor nominations, landing statues for both Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.